(M) This shows the new sheet metal roofing tiles from Decra. Also visible is the custom made ceramic chimney cap. The stucco just below the lowest side covers and fills a void in the sheet metal tile where I notched it to accept the ceramic cap. I didn't need as much as shows but tried to shape it to approximate the "tiles".

(M) This shows the custom built peel and ash shovel, both of stainless steel to remain out doors. The peel works fine. The ash shovel is fine for pushing wood and ashes to the side but it's straight sides do not work well for removing ash from the circular inside. Better get one like James sells through Forno Bravo.

(M) The straight piece on the left is an improvised hook I made from a scrap of left over sheet metal stud. I bent about 2 inches up from the far end. It actually works fairly well but looks like what it is, sCRAP.

(M) I could but I'm too conceited. Also, I need to always borrow a digital camera as I don't have my own.

(M) The front got smudged with smoke. I may need to re-paint that side charcoal brown. I'm hoping that a windy day precipitated smoke exiting in front of the oven rather than up the chimney but I'm afraid that I made my flue too small. Also, the approach (throat? manifold?) should have been sloped like a funnel. If you haven't built yours yet don't bother including a damper either. Since the chimney is outside the dome there should be no reason to ever need to close it. That was work done for no reason. As CanuckJim would say, "Strong like bull, smart like streetcar", except I'm not strong. Or, as Aesop would say:

The reason I ask for pictures is there are very few final pictures of oven built by users (with a few notable exceptions and of course, plenty of pics on the main forno bravo site). My wife is convinced that no one ever really finishes the outside...

(M) I think I'd use KiwiPete's manifold idea too, if I were to build again.

(M) Since there is so much Info. on this Forum I decided to Copy-Paste my input to KiwiPete from August of 2005. I hope it helps Mrs. Remoray feel more confident that ovens do get completed. To her I would also like to say that if you and Drake can look at this as a process rather than a goal you'll have a lot of fun participating in the decision process. It needn't be done in a hurry. Mine took many months to complete but it was the process that was fun. I'm almost sorry that it is almost finished. But of course, there is still the outdoor kitchen part to build:

KiwiPete's dome will not cave in! #87

(M) Unless you forgot to put cement in your refractory mortar, I'd bet a Kiwi that your dome will hold. It is very carefully fitted. Congratulations!

(M) If I were to build another Pompeii I would use your manifold idea though I'd probably use two "circles" of re-bar. Your casting is a definite improvement on my use of plain flat iron to support the chimney. It requires no mortar joints to fill .

<snip>

(M) Your arch bricks are already cut so if you house your igloo, you could use those same bricks for a decorative arch that lies next to your cement board, or "HardiPlank" siding.

I'm having a launch party for my bread biz next Saturday, and I'll even have a digital camera expert imported all the way from Santa Cruz on hand. I'll ask him, politely, to take some pics of the front of my oven that are of a size that can be posted on this site. Honest, Mrs. Remoray, these will not be created by Industrial Light and Magic.

Marcel,

Your oven tools look very fine. Maybe have the guy who made them adjust the scraper for you. Or, when you get your brass brush, you might find you don't need to adjust it. Roof is a good job, very tight and slick. Stop blushing and post some pics of the front, streetcar.

As you can tell Jim is a bit overwhelmed and under the gun. Gardena is about 10 minutes from LAX in the county of Los Angeles. Santa Cruz is about 380 miles from me very close to San Jose and San Francisco. We will give him grace.

Cool I get to play with a digital camera. I still use emulsion film. No where near an expert more like a hack!

A great job Marcel, and just in time for summer baking. The roof style looks a little Italian, and that is kind of appropriate. I too would like to see a photo of the front. Well done.
Ciao for now,
Davy

Drake"
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". Stop blushing and post some pics of the front, streetcar.

Jim"
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" I too would like to see a photo of the front. Well done.
Ciao for now,
Davy"
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(M) How could I disappoint my vocal fans?

(M) The next (2nd) shot shows a test for a solution to initial smoke emissions discoloring the front. The mock up was made from the disassembled arch forms and is meant to provide a temporary cowling (hood?) to catch any errant wafts of smoke and direct them above the deep roof overhang. If it works, I'll make a nicer version, perhaps of sheet metal.

(M) The 3rd shot, below, is also a test for my idea for an insulated door. I plan to ultimately be baking more bread than pizza and a door should greatly help retain the heat inside the dome. Bread, as I understand, is baked only with retained heat and no fire in the hearth.

(M) The door is made from 2 pieces of "Durock" with a perimter liner spacer of about 1" between the inner and outer layers to provide an insulating air space. I could have used "Wonderboard", "HardiPanel", or any cementous board just as easily but the Durock was thicker and gleaned from a piece of scrap. I'll attach 2 wooden handles in a vertical orientation, such as the handles provided on mortar floats. This will, I hope, allow me to position the door without burning my knuckles.

(M) The last image, #04, is offered primarily for dmun who wanted to know why I was sorry I had shaped my doorway throat sides asa a funnel rather than provide a simple lip as most have done. Note that the HardiPlanks inside the archway are painted black in an attempt to "mitigate" (there's that word again) the discoloration from smoke. It doesn't prevent it but merges with it.

(M) David, although I managed to hide the gap behind what you see with interior mortar and my HardiPlank siding, it was more work than I would recommend. Of course you may have a different floor plan for your hearth opening, but I wanted to use the geatest length for my brick arch in the hope that the arch would help deflect some of the smoke from the front.

(M) The darker gray between the Durock sheets is Furnace cement which gains strength when heated. This door, if it works, will be rebuilt and nicely trimmed on the side edges to match the taper of the throat.

(M) Despite the fact that I bought the Angleizer program, and jig, I didn't taper my arch bricks. I would have liked to taper them and install a larger Keystone but with my arch bricks in their present orientation, my cheap tile saw would have made a mess of those cuts in the most visible area.

(M) My lesson, if you would like to learn from another of my mistakes, is to buy a 10" brick cutter from Harbor Freight. It will cost about $200 but from that cost you could subtract $80 for the cheap tile saw and another $20 for the replacement blade I needed. That means that for only an extra $100 I would have had convenience, and a saw that would be useful when I install tile on the Slab Foundation floor and add outdoor counter space.

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